A League of Synergy
by Moonlight-Dusk65
Summary: When a trainer from a neighboring region mentions a new phenomenon during one of Ash's battles, the gang take a trip to the Ferrum Region to learn about it's synergy and participate in the Pokken Tournament. Along the way they meet friends old and new, rivals and enemies that question the hearts of both humans and pokemon.


A League of Synergy

Chapter 1

A Boy from a Ferrum Region

In the world of Pocket Monsters, Pokemon for short, adventure lurks around every corner. Trainers and their pokemon travel to grow stronger and forge powerful bonds. With the discovery of Mega Evolution, trainers and pokemon have been able to push the friendship to even greater heights. However, there is a precursor to Mega Evolution that only those raised to believe in it and a few researchers have heard about it. This phenomenon requires something more than just two fancy stones to bring out a pokemon's hidden power.

Synergy…

In Mer Bleue City, a boy named Alix and his Mawile were on their way to the Pokemon Center. It has been a year since they left on their travels through the Kalos region. Unlike most trainers, Alix did not challenge the gyms and collect the eight gyms badges for the Pokemon League. He wanted to grow strong enough to compete for a league back in his home region.

"We're finally here Mawile," Alix came to a stop and held his knees. He could see the Pokemon Center's sign over the horizon, "I can't wait to tell Nia about all of the adventures and pokemon we met in Kalos. Mom too!"

"Mawile!" the deceiver pokemon pointed to her headband, a particular stone was keeping the not together.

"I think we should save that surprise for when we get to Neos City," Alix smiled, hoisting Mawile onto his shoulders. The little pokemon shrugged her shoulders to say that she was neutral on the idea.

The duo continued down the path to the center. They passed a few pokemon and trainers along the way. If there was one unique thing about Kalos, it was the fashion trends. Sometimes Alix would just take out his tablet and sketch or take photos of the people and pokemon he saw while walking around. He liked to draw so much that he considered himself an artistic trainer. For now, he focused on getting to the Pokemon Center.

"Greninja, use Cut!"

"Dragonite, attack and counter with Thunder Punch!"

Alix and Mawile saw sparks fly from the front of the Pokemon Center. They ran toward the back and squeezed through a crowd to see the battle that was going on. Maybe watching a quick battle wouldn't hurt.

A boy and his Greninja were currently in a battle with a boy and his Dragonite. From the looks of things, the Greninja took some major damage from that Thunder Punch.

"Gre...ninja," the water/dark-type pokemon groaned as electricity flew off his body. He dropped to one knee and pounded his fist into the ground.

"Greninja's almost done!" Dragonite's trainer yelled, "Let's knock this one out of the park with Thunder!"

"Dragon!" the dragon pokemon charged electricity in its antennas, waiting for enough power to knock Greninja out right there and then.

"They needed to counter-attack before it's too late," Alix murmured. He was unaware of the honey-blonde girl who looked at him briefly after saying that.

Greninja's trainer clenched his fist, the flames of determination were visible in his eyes, "Don't give up Greninja! I know we can win this together!"

"Pi-ka!" the trainer's Pikachu seemed to be cheering on Greninja as well.

Together, together. The words echoed within the Greninja's mind. He saw the Dragonite getting ready to aim the attack. He was not going to let that happen.

"Gre…"

Greninja rose slowly.

"Nin…"

He dropped his arms to his sides and clenched his fists.

"Ja!"

In an instance water surrounded Greninja as if he was caught in a whirlpool. Not only that, but his eyes glowed red with parts of his body began to change. Come to think of it; he resembled his trainer. The entire audience was astounded by the transformation as no has ever seen a Greninja do something like this before. Most assumed it was some form of Mega Evolution.

"Amazing," Alix awed at the sight that Greninja and took out his tablet, "I had no clue a Greninja could mega-evolve."

Alix took a quick picture of the Greninja before his trainer commanded an attack. After looking at the picture, he noticed that the dark/water-type pokemon was lacking a mega stone (or Greninjaite if the mineral existed). His trainer also lacked a keystone. They both had a gadget on their wrist, but it was something else entirely.

"Ash and Greninja are completely in sync with each other!" a lemon-haired boy exclaimed. He was looking at some computer while the battle was taking place.

" Completely in sync with each other?" Alix repeated and then he gasped, "Is… is that Synergy Burst ?"

"Synergy Burst?"

The same girl from before overheard Alix's hypothesis. They looked at each other briefly before turning their attention back to the battle.

"Use Aerial Ace Greninja!" Ash yelled as he did an uppercut, "up close and personal!"

In the blink of an eye, Greninja was already barraging Dragonite in a flurry of punches and finally a roundhouse kick to the stomach. The force of the sent Dragonair flying backward into a tree and leaving a huge dent in the tree's trunk.

"Dragonite is unable to battle!" apparently, the lemon-haired boy was also the referee, "the victory goes to Greninja and Ash."

Ash fell to the ground, breathing heavily. That power boost left him exhausted for some reason, "Heh, heh, good job there Greninja."

"Pika, pika!" A pikachu happened to be with Ash during the entire battle.

Greninja held out his hand to Ash, "Greninja!"

After Ash was helped up by Greninja there was a camera flash. It happened at the exact moment the water disappeared from Greninja. The two of them and Pikachu looked over at the crowd; they saw Alix holding his tablet up high."It looks like we have a fan among the crowd," Ash smiled, noticing the smile on Alix's face.

After the battle, Ash asked Nurse Joy to heal his Pokemon. Aside from Greninja, Ash's Pikachu and Hawlucha battled against a Magmar and Scyther respectively. The Luminous conference was still far away due how fast Ash's gym battles have been going. He knew his pokemon were ready for the Kalos League after all the training they have been doing these past weeks. Although, he still wanted to get the hang of Greninja's form as it could be useful in the league.

"If you keep up this winning streak up Ash, you'll take the Kalos League by storm!" said a young girl named Bonnie.

Ash was embarrassed by the girl's praise, "I don't know about winning the league by storm Bonnie. I'm sure there will be many trainers in the league who will give us a challenge."

"But with Ash-Greninja as a secret weapon, you'll take everyone by surprise," that was Bonnie's nickname for the transformation, "no one will see it coming."

"And that's why Ash should only use it when going up against a strong opponent," Clemont, the lemon-haired boy, smiled, "the form is similar to mega evolution so, it would be a wise decision to use it against an opponent with a keystone."

"Like a mega-evolution," ever since that battle in the ninja village, Ash has wondered what this transformation really was. Did all Greninja have this power or was his Greninja unique from the rest. Are delphox and chesnaught capable of this transformation? He suddenly pictured Serena's Braixen as a Delphox with her color scheme.

Speaking of Serena.

"Serena?" the honey-haired girl was knocked out her daydream when Bonnie called her name, "What do you think of Greninja's transformation?"

"Well…," Serena recalled the battle from earlier, "remember that boy who was standing next to me during Ash's battle?"

"Uh…," Clemont tried to remember who was around them, but there were a lot of people.

Bonnie sighed, "You were focused on your computer at the time big brother. His hair was purple, his glasses were red, and he had a cute Mawile with him."

Ash snapped his fingers, "I remember him now. He took or tried to take a picture of Greninja before the transformation wore off."

Serena nodded, "When everyone in the crowd kept shouting Greninja has a mega-evolution, he called it something else. Sign? Energetic? Synergy!"

"Synergy?" Clemont rubbed his chin.

"Synergy Burst!" Serena completed the phrase, "That's what he called it."

"I wonder if he's still around the Pokemon Center," Ash pondered.

"Pikaaa!"

Nurse Joy placed a tray with Pikachu and the rest of Ash's pokeballs on the table.

"Here you go!" She smiled, "Pikachu and the rest of your Pokemon are rested and feeling much better."

"Thank you, Nurse Joy," said Ash, "by any chance did you see a trainer with a mawile around here?"

"Purple hair and red glasses?" the group nodded at Nurse Joy's questions, "I believe that was Alix. He should be upstairs in the pc room using one of the video phones right about now."

Ash and the gang entered the computer room. Many people were checking their emails, video chat, or transferring pokemon to leave an open slot on their team.

It was not too long until they found Alix near the back of the room. He was sitting at one of the computers with a video chat screen open. A young woman was talking to him on the other end.

"Looks like you had a lot of fun during your travels in the Kalos Region," the woman smiled, sliding her glasses below her eyes, "I hope you were doing more than just sightseeing and drawing the pictures you sent me."

"Of course Nia!" Alix placed his hands in his lap, "Mawile and I will be ready for the Ferrum League this time!"

"Mawile!" she jumped and kicked the air.

"That's the attitude I like to hear!" Nia crossed her right arm over chest, "Have a safe trip home and call me once you get to Neos City!"

"Weavile!" Nia's pokemon pressed his paws against the computer screen.

"Will do!" Alix signed off and looked at Mawile, "You ready to go?"

"Mawile!" she nodded, handed over his tablet.

"Oh yeah…," Alix thought about that boy and his Greninja. He meant to tell Nia about that transformation, but it slipped his mind. He took out some headset and held it in his hand.

"Maw! Maw!" Mawile tugged on Alix's pants leg. Whatever she saw gave her excitement.

"What's up Mawile?" Alix turned around to see what caught her attention. It left him speechless.

Ash, Pikachu, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie were standing right behind him. There was an awkward silence. The sounds of other people in the room suddenly became louder.

"Um, hi there," Ash introduced himself first since it was the polite thing to do, "my name is Ash, and this is my partner Pikachu!"

"Pika," Pikachu waved at Alix and Mawile with a friendly smile.

"I'm Clemont."

"Hi, I'm Bonnie!" the little girl opened up her purse to reveal two pokemon, "And these are my friends Dedenne and Squishy!"

"Dedenene!" the orange mouse pokemon greeted.

Squishy's eye formed a u-shape which showed it was happy to meet a new face.

"And I'm Serena," she could tell Alix recognized her by his facial expression.

"I'm Alix, and this is my partner Mawile," Alix introduced. He felt nervous with the four of them introducing themselves out of the blue, "Is there something we can help you with?"

"You can," Ash looked at Serena and then back at Alix, "Serena overheard you calling the form my Greninja takes on synergy burst ."

"I was talking that loud?" Alix asked Serena, his cheeks reddening slightly. That would explain why she kept looking over at him during the battle.

Serena nodded, "More like thinking out loud, but what is synergy burst?"

Alix was about to explain the story passed down from his region's history, but he remembered there was a boat the needed to catch. He looked over his shoulder at the computer screen to see the time, "Can we walk and talk while I explain everything?"

On their way to the city docks, Alix explained the term of synergy burst to Ash and the gang. It was a power pokemon tapped into during battle when they feel their trainers heart reaching out to them. A rainbow-like aura will surround the pokemon as they gain a temporary boost in their speed, power, and sometimes endurance. However, one thing sparked interest in Ash the most out all.

"Pokken...Tournament?" asked Ash.

Alix nodded and took out a brochure from his backpack, "It's the official league of the Ferrum Region. You move way up in the ranks, enter the tournament, and then you challenge the leader of that league to progress to the top. The Chroma League is officially the final league, but you can participate in the Iron league if you want to challenge Champion Alyssa and her Pikachu."

The brochure showed off a group of trainers with the title: League Promoters. Serena noticed that one promoter had a Braixen; said Braixen was riding on a stick similar to witch riding on a broom. The thought of using that technique in a forest made her heart flutter. Likewise, Ash and Pikachu were interested in Alyssa and her Pikachu, who was dressed in a luchador's outfit.

"Attention passengers, attention passengers!" one of the ship captain's spoke through a pair of speakers, "Anyone headed off to the Ferrum Region needs to leave for the ships right now. We will be departing in a couple of minutes."

"We better get ready then Mawile," Alix said as Serena returned the brochure to him.

"So will you be participating in the Ferrum League Alix?" asked Clemont.

Alix nodded, "Of course! I want to see how far Mawile and I can make after our travel through Kalos! Not to mention my other pokemon would like to test their skills as well."

"Maw mawile!" Mawile exclaimed.

"With that attitude, there's no way you two can lose," Ash tipped his hat in respect, "I just wish we could have a quick battle before you two go."

"Pika pika," Pikachu agreed.

"Wait a second," Bonnie spoke up, "Why don't we just go to Ferrum with Alix? Serena competed in the Master Class Showcase, and Ash has all of his gym badges."

"I could observe how this synergy burst works and make a comparison with Greninja's transformation," Clemont rubbed his chin, eyes closed, "but what about the Kalos League? Will we be able to make it there one we return?"

"Let's see," all eyes were on Serena as she pulled out a Kalos magazine. She smiled as she read the article, "according to this article we'll have more than enough time to reach the Lumiose Conference!."

"And the Ferrum League begins a week from today which means more time to train," Alix smiled with his hands behind his back.

Ash looked from Pikachu to Serena and Bonnie to Clemont. Each of them had the same thought on their mind.

"I guess we're taking a little trip to the Ferrum Region," Ash declared, turning to Alix.

"Then let's get a move on!" Alix motioned everyone to follow him and Mawile.

The ship everyone boarded was the St. Anne; a luxury cruise from the Kanto region and one both Ash and Pikachu were surprised to see again. They remembered a previous adventure they had on the cruise when their journey first began but brushed off the thought to see what tomorrow had in store for them.


End file.
